New GUILT
by QueenOfDragons2
Summary: After Derek and Angie are sent back to the USA following several incidents, rumors of a new terrorist organization in Angeles Bay emerge. Rauzis, a surgeon at Hope Hospital, finds himself caught up in the events that follow... Derek x Angie, more pairings to follow. Please review!
1. Rauzis

**I should mention something: I haven't seen all the games; I've only seen walkthroughs for Under The Knife, Second Opinion, and a very small part of Under The Knife 2 (the reason for the latter being that I do not like Derek and Angie's artwork in the game [Derek looks much better with longer hair and lighter skin]), so if I make a continuity error or factual error or some other mistake, please let me know. And now, to the story! Which starts about a month after New Blood.**

In a secret cave built into the mountainside behind an apartment complex on the outskirts of Angeles Bay, several large tanks, filled with a nutrient-rich liquid, gently hummed with electricity, along with countless other pieces of equipment. It looked almost like a mad scientist's lab. But the tanks were the main piece.

Suddenly, two men entered the room. They looked tired.

"Sam, you know I can't do that! They'll get suspicious!"

Sam said, "Do you have any other ideas!?"

The other man just sighed and sat down at a large desk in front of the tanks. He was a young man, appearing to be in his early thirties. He had bright, blue eyes and short, crisp, golden hair that matched nicely with his tanned skin. His oval-shaped face oddly contrasted with his muscular, powerful-looking body. He was also 7 feet, 6 inches tall.

Sam looked very similar to him, except that he looked ten years younger, had clearly Caucasian skin, was quite skinny, and was only 5' 9".

"Sam, this is IMPORTANT. I've spent far too long on this to give up."

_Indeed you have._ "Look, why don't we ask Marion for advice?"

The man slowly turned to glare at Sam and said, "Don't you DARE get Marion involved in this."

"All right. In that case…" Sam turned around and yelled, "Marion, I think you better get out of here."

After a few moments, he saw a little girl dart out from behind a console and rush for the door. When Sam turned back to the other man, the look on the latter's face made the former say, "Hey, she came in here on her own!"

The other man rolled his eyes and put his head on the desk. "Oh, what am I gonna do?"

Unable to think of anything helpful, Sam stayed quiet. At least, until he heard the other man crying.

Going over to comfort his brother, Sam said, "Ohhh… Rauzis…"

Rauzis didn't react as Sam hugged him. He knew that Sam hated to see him upset like this, but he also knew that Sam would never be able to truly understand him. He did appreciate Sam's efforts, though.

Sam said, "What's wrong, Rauzis? Is it mom?"

"…Yes."

"I see… Rauzis, look, I…I…"

"Sam…don't. Just...don't."

For several minutes, they stayed there, the only sounds being the humming of the tanks and Rauzis's quiet sobbing. Sam was at a total loss. He hated seeing his brother like that, but there was nothing he could do. Their mother had suddenly died three years earlier, shortly after Rauzis had officially become a surgeon. Her death had been hard on all of them, but Rauzis had been the most attached to her, and he had already lost two other family members that he loved dearly; his father and sister.

Finally, Sam said, "Rauzis, I know that now's not a good time to bring it up, but shouldn't you be getting ready to head to Hope Hospital soon?"

Rauzis dejectedly said, "Yeah... I guess I should."

He then got up and walked towards the door, his hands in his pockets and his head hanging down.

When he was gone, Sam sighed and looked at the tanks. "I wish Rauzis made you telepathic," he said. "Then maybe you could give me some advice on what to do."

There was no sort of response. Sam turned away and headed for the door.

_It feels so ironic_, he thought. _These things were meant to bring death...and now they're going to bring life. I wonder what HE would think of this..._

o~*~o

Marion ran back to her room as fast as she could. She didn't even stop to greet her mother. She was scared, and whenever she was scared, she would go to her room to calm herself down.

When she opened her door, she was greeted with the familiar sight of over a hundred drawings and paintings (mostly drawings) hanging on the wall. They were so realistic, they looked like photographs. What was truly astounding, though, was the fact that Marion had made every single one all by herself.

Marion would often have dreams of a place with enormous fields of flowers, forests that could only be described as enchanted, vibrant oceans filled with life, and, occasionally, a city with large parks, no paved roads or cars, or even pollution; to put it simply, a paradise, by the standards of both kids and adults. Upon waking up, she would draw out the scene she had dreamed about. Because she had the dreams almost every single night, she had quickly become a fantastic artist.

About 40% of the drawings\paintings had in it at least one person, who was enjoying the scene depicted in the artwork. Every person she knew (and even a few she didn't know) was in one of the drawings.

Marion turned her attention to a drawing of a man in doctor's clothing with brown hair sitting in the shade of a tree.

_I know I've seen him before…but where?_

o~*~o

Derek ran as fast as he could. He had to get away from the monster chasing him. It was an enormous black spider with a single white eye on top of its head and a large shield on its back with three rings of color; the inner ring was white, the middle ring was red, and the outer ring was green.

But the color of its shield wasn't important; what WAS important was that the spider was quickly catching up to Derek. He been running for so long; his lungs felt like they were burning and he felt like he was going to drop dead from exhaustion. The only thing that prevented him from losing his will were two invisible voices inside him that urged him to keep running. He didn't know where they were coming from or why they were telling him to keep running, but he didn't really care. He felt he could trust them, and right now, that was good enough for him.

…Suddenly his foot slipped out from under him, and he landed hard on the ground. Before he could even try to get up, the spider leapt onto his back. He felt the spider's claws carve into his back; the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes only made it easier for the spider. Derek felt an enormous, dulling pain ripple through him as the spider made it through his back and into his organs. The pain faded as he blacked out, but the voices didn't; they actually got louder. It wasn't long before he could make out what they were saying and what they sounded like.

_Wake up! Please, wake up!_

_Please, you can't do this to us! We're only five years old!_

The instant he heard that, Derek struggled to open his eyes. Kneeling next to him were two young children. His vision was extremely blurred, but he could still just barely make out their faces. One child had a pink shirt with large yellow flowers, and had a headband in her long, yellow hair. The other child had a light blue shirt and brown hair. He was also crying.

The child put its hand under Derek's head and said, "Please…don't die…" …The child was a little boy.

o~*~o

Derek awoke with a jolt. He was staring at the ceiling. The whole thing had been just a dream. He put his hand on his forehead and groaned as he sat up. He had a terrible headache.

What on earth was that dream about? What exactly was that thing? And who were those children?

As he put on his glasses and got out of bed, he felt a sudden, sharp pain go through his chest. Derek froze, alarmed. The pain left as quickly as it had come, but Derek's fear didn't. The last time he had felt pain like that was when he had been infected with GUILT.

Whatever had caused it wasn't affecting his breathing or pulse, though, so he decided to take some aspirin for his headache and got ready to head for work.

He made a mental note to get checked out if the chest pains came back.

**Author's note:…This is a lot better than my first attempt at this!**

**Characters (introduced in this chapter):**

**Rauzis, Age 29; Well-known for his warm and compassionate personality, Dr. Rauzis completed his residency at Hope Hospital and has been a surgeon there for the past three years. He hopes to be able to transfer to Caduceus someday.**

**Samuel, Age 25; Rauzis's younger brother, he has lived with him since the death of their mother three years ago. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology and once spent a summer at boot camp.**

**Marion, Age 7; Rauzis's daughter, she is curious about her father's work and has dreams of becoming a professional artist.**

**Derek Stiles, Age 36; Famous worldwide for being the one to exterminate GUILT, he was transferred to Caduceus Japan seven years ago, along with his assistant, Angela Thompson, and Caduceus USA's research director, Victor Niguel, to help break down the stigma surrounding the Healing Touch. He hopes to be transferred back soon.**

**I think that's all I wanted to say…**


	2. Suspicious Happenings

…**During what time of year does New Blood end? It would be very useful for me to know. Also, I am assuming that Angeles Bay (in the US version, at least) is in California.**

As Derek drove to Caduceus, he found himself constantly thinking back to the dream he had had; of course, considering how curious he was about it, that wasn't exactly surprising, but still…

Suddenly, Derek felt his chest seize up, and he quickly pulled over to avoid swerving and crashing. For several agonizing moments, Derek sat there with his head against the steering wheel and his hand on his chest, feeling scarcely able to breathe. Then, as suddenly as the feeling had come, it passed. Derek soon resumed his drive to Caduceus, this time with a new sense of urgency.

He was really glad that he didn't have any patients scheduled that morning.

o~*~o

It was 4:50 PM, and Sam was sitting on the couch in the living room of the apartment, reading old comic books. Maybelle, Rauzis's wife, was sitting in a rocking chair next to the couch, reading the morning newspaper. She suddenly noticed that Sam was staring at the phone on the table through the corners of his eyes. Before she could say anything, the phone started ringing. Sam immediately picked it up, held it up to his ear, and said, "Hello. Oh hey there, Johnny. How ya doin'?" Sam leaned back, crossed his leg, and put his free arm behind his head.

Maybelle gave a slight smile and went back to reading her newspaper. Johnny was a friend of Sam's from high school. He had moved to Memphis after graduation, but he and Sam kept in touch with each other.

Sam said, "Doin' just fine, man. My bro's doin' fine too. Yep. Nah, not yet. What? That's great! When'll you guys be coming over? The 1st of August? That's three weeks earlier than I expected!"

Maybelle glanced at the calendar. It was the 28th of June.

"Anything else?" Sam's eyes went wide. "…He is? Oh, well, in that case…" Sam suddenly noticed Marion looking down at him from the top of the stairs. "…Tell the guys I'll be free on that day. Oh, by the way, be sure to tell Tyler to call me at 3 o'clock next weekend. All right. Bye, Johnny."

With that, Sam hung up the phone and went back to reading his comic books.

_Odd,_ Maybelle thought. _I didn't think Sam had a friend named Tyler… Oh well. I wonder how Rauzis is doing…_

o~*~o

_Let's see… Where's that last piece?_

Dr. Rauzis was in the middle of an operation. His patient was a man who had shattered his left tibia and fibula in a biking accident. He just had one piece of bone left to find, then he could finish up.

_Ah, here it is!_

He found the missing fragment in the man's calf muscle. After carefully using the forceps to remove the fragment without damaging the muscle, he carefully put the fragment into place and poured antibiotic gel onto the bones to bind the pieces together.

"All right, let's finish up."

His assistant wordlessly handed him the suture, the gel, and the bandage respectively as the surgeon sutured, disinfected, and bandaged the initial incision.

As the patient was wheeled out of the O.R., Rauzis glanced at the clock.

_Hmm. Took five minutes. How did I suddenly get so slow?_

His assistant just smiled. She knew what he was thinking. Rauzis had once operated on a patient with ten aneurisms in his heart; not only did he save the patient _and_ prevent any of the aneurisms from bursting, but he did it in less than six minutes; _and he still said that it took too long._

As Rauzis took off his scrubs, he said, "I had another weird dream last night."

"Oh? What was it about?" Every once in a while, Rauzis would have an unusual dream that he could never resist telling others about. Or making drawings of.

"I was trying to climb a wall while carrying a corpse."

"That sounds interesting…"

"It was VERY bizarre. I didn't see the corpse's face, though."

"…May I see the drawing?"

"I didn't bring it with me."

"Why not?"

"…I left it at home."

"Oh."

Rauzis hated keeping secrets from her; they had gone to med school together, and had become _very_ close friends. Of course, Rauzis was already married to Maybelle, but only for a few years, and she had told him that she thought he was making a hasty judgment when he proposed to her (he had just graduated high school), and had repeatedly expressed her belief that their marriage wouldn't last long, and, at the time, her predictions seemed to be accurate.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that Rauzis had neglected to mention a very prominent part of his drawing, and that was the giant hand that had been reaching towards him, along with the owner of the hand…

He also neglected to mention that he had the feeling that something terrible had just happened…

o~*~o

The chief director of Caduceus Japan ran through the halls, his heart and mind racing. He had heard the gunshots, the screams, the shouting, followed by an eerie silence. It wasn't until a nurse over the P.A. system said it was safe that he dared to come out from under his desk.

Finally, the director encountered the senior surgeon at Caduceus Japan.

"_Dr. Kitagawa, what happened?_"

The old surgeon said, "_Several men wearing black broke in and started attacking Dr. Stiles. They attacked anybody that tried to stop them._"

"_Is he all right?_"

"_Yes. He should be in the lobby._"

The director promptly headed there. He found Dr. Stiles sitting on one of the benches with another doctor wrapping a bandage around his left arm. Dr. Stiles' assistant, Angela Thompson, was clinging onto Derek's right side. She looked fairly distraught.

The director said, "_Are you all right, Dr. Stiles?_"

Derek said, "_…I think so…_" His voice sounded a little shaky, as though he was still scared.

The director looked at the other doctor and said, "_Where are the men that broke in?_"

"_They're dead, sir._"

"…_**Dead**__?_"

"_They all somehow committed suicide after they were detained. The bodies are being sent to the morgue for autopsies._"

"_Did you look through their clothing for any sort of identification?_"

"_Yes. We found no such thing._"

"_Hmm. I see. Thank you._"

With that, he left.

_Perhaps I should let them know about this…_, he thought.

o~*~o

It was 7:35 PM, and Sidney Kasal, chief director of Caduceus USA, was sitting in his office doing some paperwork. He was 45, wore glasses, had greenish hair, had hazel eyes, and wore a business suit with a red tie.

The phone rang, and he picked it up, passively saying, "Hello?"

"Is director Hoffman there?" The voice on the other end had a heavy Japanese accent.

"No, he's been out sick for the last few days."

"Is director Kasal there?"

"Speaking."

"Director Kasal, I am calling to inform you that we are transferring Derek Stiles, Angela Thompson, and Victor Niguel back to Caduceus USA."

"Oh. I thought the exchange-."

"This has nothing to do with the exchange. This is for their own safety."

"…What do you mean?"

"There have been numerous attempts on their lives over the past 2 ½ hours."

It took a few moments for what he said to fully register. "…W-what!? Are they okay!?"

"Yes. In fact, I'm standing right outside their rooms."

"Can I talk to them!?"

"No. They asked me not to bother them unless it was an emergency. Given what they've been through, I don't blame them."

"…"

"Anyway, we're arranging for them to be taken to America as safely as possible. They should be returning to Caduceus in a few days."

"…Very well. I'll inform the staff. Please, tell me if you find out anything."

"Don't worry. We're REQUIRED to give you that sort of information in situations like this."

He then hung up the phone, leaving Director Kasal to his own thoughts.

_I can't believe this…_, he thought. _It couldn't be Delphi…could it?_

o~*~o

Five hours later, it started raining. Had anybody been outside, they might've noticed the black dog running through the streets. The dog strongly resembled a wolf, but was bigger, fluffier, and looked considerably more menacing; like a big, old junkyard dog. Of course, that was only his appearance; his SPEED was another thing entirely. In spite of his apparent age, he ran like an adolescent greyhound.

Occasionally, a bus driver or taxi driver would stop and try to get the dog's attention, but he simply ignored them. He didn't like being near humans… Why was a long story…

Then, he heard something, and he stopped. An ordinary human wouldn't have been able to hear it over the rain, but the dog's superior hearing easily picked it up. Crying. Less than 20 feet away. He quickly went to investigate it.

He went into an alley and found, curled up behind a trash can, was a little boy.

Upon seeing the dog standing in front of him, the boy said, "Go away."

The dog just sat down. The boy said, "I said go away!"

The dog whimpered, cocked its head to the side, and made a sad face.

The boy looked away and said, "Please… I don't want anybody to know I'm here."

The dog whimpered again, urging him to explain.

The boy sighed and said, "People think that they need to help me, but I don't need any help."

The dog gave a confused whine.

"I don't know what it is. All I do is tell them about my parents and then they say that I need help. Help with what?"

Suddenly, they heard a very angry woman yell, "PATRICK! GODDAMN IT PATRICK, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"

The boy said, "Sorry doggy, I gotta go."

The black dog knew that the woman was bad news, so he jumped onto the boy and held him down, being careful not to accidentally crush him. He didn't get up until he was sure the woman was gone.

The moment he did so, the boy said, "What's wrong with you!? Why did you do that!?"

The boy then hit the dog on the nose and ran off.

The dog didn't bother trying to go after him. It would've only aggravated the boy even more.

Instead, he threw up his head and let out a frustrated howl. He was cold, hungry, sopping wet, unloved, and had no idea what to do next. He could almost swear that the heavens were mocking him.

What happened next astounded him; the rain stopped. Suddenly. As though someone had simply flicked a switch to turn off the rain.

He was extremely confused, but decided not to dwell on it. Instead he decided to find a place to spend the rest of the night.

As the dog walked down the alley, he couldn't help but feel like something was watching him…

o~*~o

Derek nervously wrung his hands as he stared out the window of the plane. The ridiculous number of assassination attempts had left him on edge, along with the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something…

Anyway, he, Angie, Victor, and a few bodyguards were flying in a private plane (who had provided the plane, Derek didn't know). So far, nothing had gone wrong, but Derek couldn't help but wonder if them going back to Angeles Bay was part of the assassins' plan…

Regardless of whether or not that was the case, he was…_glad_ that he was going back. He had missed the beauty of Angeles Bay so much… He wondered how much had changed since the last time he had been there…

He glanced over at Angie, who was sitting next to him. She was unusually fidgety, and would keep looking up and down the aisle for no apparent reason. She also kept glancing back at Derek, but seemed reluctant to say anything.

Derek's thoughts went back to when they had first met. It felt like an eternity ago, yet he could remember it like it was yesterday. He could also remember the day Angie had her hair cut. It was a shame… She had always looked so pretty with her long hair…

Derek gently grasped Angie's hand, hoping it would calm them both. Angie looked at him in surprise, but made no attempt to pull her hand away. She stared at him for an oddly long time, as though she wanted to do something but couldn't muster the will to do so. She eventually turned away, but Derek noticed the small smile on her face as she did so. After that, she was noticeably calmer.

As Derek stared out the plane window, he resolved that once everything had calmed down…

After this was all over…

After he had visited his and Angie's parents…

He would ask her something he should've asked her a long time ago…

And he hoped she wouldn't refuse.

**Author's note: Finally! I finished this!**

**Sorry if it felt like I kept jumping between characters. I wasn't entirely sure where to go with this chapter. That and I've been working on this chapter on and off for, I think, over a month. And no, I did NOT forget about what was happening to Derek. HE'S the one that forgot.**

**If you have any suggestions on how I could improve this chapter, please let me know.**

**Characters:**

**Maybelle, Age 34; Rauzis's wife. Rauzis proposed to her after he graduated high school.**

**Emily Hawthorne, Age 30; Rauzis's assistant. They went to medical school together.**

**Angela Thompson, Age 31; Derek Stiles' assistant. It is rumored they have feelings for each other…**

**Sidney Kasal, Age 45; Chief Director of Caduceus USA.**


	3. The Panopticons

**And now, we introduce…the Panopticons!**

Sam couldn't sleep that night. He had tried reading for a while, listening to lullabies, eating a small snack, etc. He didn't know why, but he had a strong feeling that something just wasn't right.

Finally, at 2:00 AM, he decided to go for a walk. As he stepped outside, he felt the refreshingly cool wind blow on his face. The only sound was of crickets chirping, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Sam took a deep breath of the fresh night air and let out a contented sigh. Oh, how he loved nights like this.

And then…

_Hold on… What's that sound?_

He could hear music coming from up the road. After a few seconds, he recognized the music. Motorhead. And that meant…

_Dear god, you've gotta be kidding me…_

Twenty seconds later, a massive armored RV came around the bend in the road. It had sunglasses-wearing flaming skull decals on every flat surface, Hieronymus Bosch reproductions on the doors, hood-mounted machine guns with neon lights attached, Motorhead blasting on the jury-rigged PA system, and numerous people riding on the top and sides of the RV, all of them wearing black and white clothing and makeup.

To Sam's horror, the RV stopped right in front of him. The music stopped playing and the voice of the driver came on.

"Hey there, Sam! Long time, no see!"

Sam was appalled. "TYLER, YOU GODDAMN IDIOT, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!? YOU TOLD ME YOU WEREN'T GONNA BE COMING HERE UNTIL NEXT MARCH!"

"Sorry, Sam! But one of our informers contacted us about a terrorist group setting up base somewhere in Angeles Bay! And you know how we feel about terrorists!"

_A…terrorist group…? Oh god no…_

Sam yelled, "DID THEY SAY ANYTHING ELSE?"

"Nope. They had to cut off. Somebody was coming."

Sam looked at the ground, an expression of mild horror on his face.

"By the way, we got a letter addressed to you!"

Sam immediately looked up. Why on earth would a letter addressed to him be sent to the Panopticons? The only connection he ever had with them was a former friendship with their leader, emphasis on "former."

"It says, 'Woman in purple dress is imposter. Do not believe her lies. Is not me. Must stop her before she strikes. Not sure when. Will be soon. Can't do it myself. Can't tell you why. Don't try to find me. Love, H.' Any idea who this 'H' person is?"

Sam didn't answer.

The driver said, "Well, don't worry about it! We'll take care of it!"

He was preparing to leave when Sam yelled something.

"What?"

"THE IMPOSTER SHOULD BE CAUCASIAN AND HAVE BLACK HAIR!"

"Thanks for the info, Sam! You wanna ride with us for a few hours?"

"…I WOULD RATHER NOT."

"All right! Bye Sam!"

Everybody riding on the outside of the RV promptly said goodbye as well.

The driver started up the engine again and sped off towards Angeles Bay, the PA system resuming its playing of Motorhead.

Normally, Sam would idly hope they didn't get arrested, but this wasn't normal.

_H? Wait… Hannah?_

Sam stared up at the moon. He hardly ever knew Hannah, and he had long since given up on her. To get a letter from her, after all these years, was, to say the absolute least, a shock. What was even more shocking was her grammar. Hannah had been the most intelligent of her siblings; her grades had always been straight A's. Unless she had been rushing to write the letter (which was quite likely), something was wrong.

Sam felt a strange longing in his heart. He had been the youngest of his family, and often felt slightly alienated from them. As much as he loved his brother, niece, and sister-in-law, he longed to find the girl of his dreams, marry her, and move to the city. He craved independence, but his family always came before him. Besides, he didn't want to move out until he found his dream girl. His experience at college had made him certain of that…

Sam shivered as unpleasant memories came back to him. Taking one last look at the moon, he turned back toward the apartment building…

And noticed a figure standing on the roof, staring down at him.

Before he could stop himself, Sam blurted out, "Hannah!? Is that you!?"

The figure quickly backed away from the edge. Barely able to restrain himself, Sam rushed back into the building and headed for the stairs. The elevator would've been faster, but it didn't go up to the roof.

He dashed up the steps as fast as he could. When he emerged onto the rooftop, he looked around to find…no sign that anybody had been there.

After taking one last look around, he dejectedly headed back to the stairwell. He could've sworn he had seen someone…

o~*~o

It was 5:30 AM. The black dog had found refuge in an old warehouse. He was sleeping peacefully on a shipment of steel bars. He would've slept longer had it not been for the sound of mechanical equipment coming to life.

His sleep had been entirely without dreams, and it wasn't because he was tired. For some reason, ever since a certain incident, he hadn't had any dreams. It had been so long, he had forgotten what they were like.

The dog groggily jumped off the steel poles…and almost immediately fell over. He was so tired, and it had been so long since he had gotten enough sleep.

Nevertheless, he shook it off and headed for the back entrance. Upon going outside, the first thing he noticed was a bright red station wagon parked across the street. Curious, he decided to take a closer look.

And then he heard the sound of a gun cocking. Followed by a gunshot. He felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his right shoulder, and he fell over. The red station wagon suddenly sped away, the tires screeching.

Darkness appeared at the edges of the dog's vision. He had felt pain before, but hardly anything like what he felt now. After lying there for several moments, he rolled onto his stomach and struggled to lift himself. Trying his hardest not to put any weight on his injured shoulder, he slowly limped to the sidewalk, where he promptly collapsed again. At least now he wasn't in danger of being run over by a car.

All he could really do now was wait and hope somebody nice found him…

o~*~o

Victor Niguel did not want to wait a few days before going back to Caduceus; he was a very devoted researcher and he had nothing important to do (there was the matter of finishing unpacking, but that could wait). As he left his apartment, a Japanese woman came out of the apartment next door. As they rode the elevator to the lobby, Victor noticed that the woman kept glancing at him, but neither of them said anything. It wouldn't have been so awkward if it hadn't been for the fact that their cars turned out to be parked right next to each other. By then, it was clear that the woman was trying to keep from laughing.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, aside from the occasional sound of a car's tires screeching.

After Victor parked his car in Caduceus' parking lot, he noticed a doctor walking towards the entrance. His blonde hair had been cut to about half an inch long and he looked like he had forgotten to shave for a week. The man then noticed Victor and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, they heard the sound of tires screeching and saw a red station wagon speed across the road in front of Caduceus.

At the next intersection, however, a HUGE truck suddenly swung into view and started driving towards the station wagon, swinging sideways to prevent it from just driving past. The driver of the station wagon slammed on the brakes, stopping just before it touched the truck. Several people immediately came out of the back of the truck, all of them wearing black and white make-up and clothing. Victor couldn't decide if they were gang members or rock music fans. Whatever they were, they surrounded the station wagon and the driver of the truck got out, walked up to the car, yanked the driver out, and loudly yelled, "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR CRUELTY TO ANIMALS!"

The driver of the car was silent for several moments before he said, "…You can't chase a man across the city just for that!"

Victor and the blonde haired man were close enough to hear them.

The driver of the truck said, "Animal cruelty is a crime, just like domestic abuse and child neglect!"

"How have I been cruel to animals!?"

"…YOU SHOT A DOG THAT WAS JUST PASSING YOUR CAR!"

Victor then noticed two people standing next to the truck that were holding a very large, black dog in their arms.

"How is that animal cruelty!?"

"…Let's discuss this at the police station. We're gonna hold up traffic."

The car driver was led into the truck while the red car was hitched up to it. The truck driver got back into the truck and drove off towards the police station, this time obeying the traffic rules.

Victor and the blonde haired man couldn't help but stare after them even after the truck was out of sight.

The blonde haired man walked up to Victor and said, "That…was weird." His voice sounded familiar.

Victor said, "Yeah. Let's not tell anybody about it."

The two men then walked into the building without another word.

o~*~o

It was 10:00 AM, and Sam was sitting on the couch, but he wasn't reading anything. He was staring at the ceiling.

Eventually, Marion went up to him and said, "Uncle Sam, is something wrong?"

Sam sighed and said, "Have you ever heard of the Panopticons?"

"Um…I think so. Why?"

"They came to the city last night."

"Oh. Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no, not at all. It's just…their leader used to be my friend."

"He was?"

"Yeah… He always wanted to be a cop, but his health wouldn't let him. Then, about five years ago, he left to go after that dream, and he ended up starting a vigilante group."

"The Panopticons?"

"Yeah. At first, I was really happy for him and I even considered joining his group but…"

"But…what?"

"When he came back to visit, he had…changed."

"How so?"

"I…I'm not sure… It just didn't seem like it was him in there, like he had become a different person… It wasn't good."

"I-I don't get it."

"It was like something else was controlling him… It was really creepy." He sighed. "I don't know how to explain it to you."

"Maybe looking for a job would help."

"Marion, I HAVE a job."

"You DO!?"

The phone promptly began ringing. Sam quickly picked it up and said, "Hello. Oh, hello, sir! You couldn't have called at a better time! So, what's up?"

By now, Marion had learned not to interrupt people when they were on the phone, so she didn't say anything.

"Oh. Okay sir. No, it's just…if it's gonna take THAT long, I'm gonna miss my niece's 8th birthday. The 15th. I hope so. Of course, sir. Our agreement is still in effect, right? Check it, sir. …I keep telling you, you need to fire that general before…you-know-what happens. Yes sir. All right, goodbye sir."

Sam hung up the phone.

Marion said, "Who was that?"

"That was my boss. I need to head out to Washington D.C. tomorrow morning and I'll be gone for three weeks."

Maybelle, who was in the kitchen, said, "Be sure to call Rauzis about the Panopticons!"

"Huh? Oh! Right, right, forgot about that."

Marion said, "Uncle, what IS your job?"

Sam, heading for the stairs, said, "I will tell you when the time is right."

"When will the time be right?"

"When you're old enough, a situation arises where it needs to be explained, or if you manage to find out enough to the point where you need to be told." He then disappeared into his room.

Marion stood there for a while before heading up to her room. She sat down at her desk and resumed work on another drawing. It was of two children running in a meadow, one a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, the other a boy with brown hair and light green eyes…

o~*~o

Meanwhile, the Panopticons were fawning over their new dog.

A woman said, "Why would anybody hurt you? You're such a good doggy!"

The black dog, now named Rex, responded by nuzzling her chin. After he had gotten shot and the man responsible was arrested, the Panopticons had taken Rex to a vet to get his wound cared for. After that, the Panopticons groomed Rex as best they could. Rex's fur was now much shinier and shorter (though still fluffy). They had also given him some food and water. All those things had firmly convinced Rex that he could trust the Panopticons despite their odd behavior.

He was also getting a lot more attention than he was used to; in his case, it was a good thing. He was used to almost no attention. The Panopticons were giving him one-on-one attention and weren't too cuddly. They had also gotten a comfortable dog bed for him; he was used to sleeping on hard surfaces.

After a while, Rex, tired, fell asleep. As he did so, he could swear he heard two young children calling out to him…

**Author's note: For those of you who are wondering just what the heck inspired the Panopticons, search "refuge in audacity tv tropes." I strongly recommend staying on the page; otherwise, you run the risk of spending hours on that website (see "tv tropes will ruin your life" for the potential risks). As for the name, I spotted it while looking through the "Real Life" subtrope of "Refuge in Audacity." I used it because it sounded cool.**

**I'm going to go ahead and say it; the terrorist organization is NOT Delphi. It's MUCH worse.**

**I know, I'm still jumping around the characters a lot and I know that things probably haven't been very interesting so far, but I PROMISE that next chapter is when things start to kick off.**

**Oh, and no, I don't know how long it would take to fly from Japan to southern California.**

**Please review, guys. If I don't get reviews, I feel like people aren't interested in my story. And then I won't feel inclined to work on it.**

**I think that's all I wanted to say.**

**Characters:**

**The Panopticons: A vigilante group formed five years ago. They are famous for their highly unorthodox yet highly effective methods for catching criminals.**

**Victor Niguel, Age 36: Head of research and development at Caduceus.**


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